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88
-
German Post-War Grützke, Johannes
Self-portrait.
See original version (German)
88
-
German Post-War Grützke, Johannes
Self-portrait.
See original version (German)
Estimate €3,500 - €4,500
Voluntary lot
Description
German Post-War
Grützke, Johannes
Self-portrait. 2017. Oil on canvas. 60 x 50 cm. Monogrammed and dated; dated on the reverse, bearing the artist’s stamp and the stamp ‘Bibliothek von Johannes Grützke’. - With a few very isolated tiny, pinpoint-sized scuffs. Overall, in exceptionally good and clean condition.
Private collection, Berlin. - This work is the last self-portrait created by Johannes Grützke just a few weeks before his death in May 2017. As a portraitist, Grützke did not idealise his subjects, but sought to capture their physiognomy and character through distortion and specific perspectives. He applied this principle both to the people he portrayed and to his self-portraits. In this work, this approach is evident with undiminished clarity: the gaze is direct, the modelling of the face is both raw and tentative, and the earthy colour scheme is devoid of any embellishment. “As I reflect myself, the whole world is reflected in my mirror. That is what I then paint,” Grützke himself put it. As his final self-portrait, this work takes on an additional dimension that extends beyond the purely pictorial.
Oil on canvas. Monogrammed and dated; dated on the reverse and bearing the artist’s stamp. – With a few very isolated, tiny, pinpoint-like smudges. Overall, in exceptionally good and clean condition. – Private collection, Berlin. - This work is the last self-portrait Johannes Grützke created a few weeks before his death in May 2017. As a portraitist, Grützke did not idealise his subjects, but sought to capture their physiognomy and character through distortion and unusual perspectives. He applied this principle not only to the people he portrayed, but also to his self-portraits. In this work, this approach is evident with undiminished clarity: the gaze is direct, the modelling of the face is both raw and tentative, and the earthy colour scheme is devoid of any embellishment. “When I look at my reflection, the whole world is reflected in my mirror. That is what I then paint,” as Grützke himself put it. As his final self-portrait, this work takes on an additional dimension that extends beyond the purely pictorial.
See original version (German)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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